The Piaggia farm is situated in the commune of Poggio a Caiano, in the province of Prato, about 14 kilometres west of Florence. It has vineyards in the Carmignano Denomination of Controlled and Guaranteed Origin area, partly in the commune of Poggio a Caiano and partly in the commune of Carmignano.
The winery was set up by Mauro Vannucci, who purchased the land in the DOC area near Piaggia in the mid 70s; he was convinced that the excellent exposure to the sun and the permeable, dry and clayey soil would produce a great Carmignano wine.
He produced the first Piaggia Carmignano Riserva DOCG in 1991 and since then his passion for wine has steadily grown. He has involved his daughter Silvia in this project and she is now the current owner of the winery. At the beginning of the 90s he bought a further 15 hectares in one of the best areas of the appellation, a kind of natural basin a few hundred metres from the centre of Carmignano, which gives a spectacular view of the city of Florence. The current property extends to about 25 hectares, 15 of which are cultivated with vines. The production area of Carmignano DOCG is about forty square kilometres on the East side of the hill district of Montalbano, located between the towns of Florence, Prato and Pistoia, in the heart of Renaissance Tuscany. In this area is strong the influence of the Apennines that shows heavy temperature range especially during summer time; so viticulture develops in a particularly suitable place, the ground is perfectly drained and rich in limestone and microelements so allowing a rapid vegetative growth and a balance typical of valuable areas.
The fame of Carmignano wines undoubtedly goes hand in hand with the ancient history of this area: from the 13th century onwards, its reputation was such that the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Cosimo III de’ Medici, took a special pride in the area’s wines, and in 1716 ruled that the wine-growing area should have special legal protected status, essentially creating one of the world’s first appellations. However, Cosimo III did no more than codify a wine tradition that had already been in existence for centuries in this region; as a matter of fact Carmignano has always contained a significant amount of cabernet in its grape blend: it was Catherine de’ Medici who imported this grape variety to these hills when she became queen of France in the 16th century.